


Gently Now

by sheismessy_butsheskind



Category: Bandstand - Oberacker/Oberacker & Taylor
Genre: Battle Scars, Giving some love to my otp, It’s a soft fic, M/M, Touching, i love these two dorks, relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-14
Updated: 2019-01-14
Packaged: 2019-10-10 07:51:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17421890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sheismessy_butsheskind/pseuds/sheismessy_butsheskind
Summary: Nick doesn’t know how to be soft so Wayne takes it upon himeself to teach him... gently.





	Gently Now

The past year living with Wayne was surprisingly... easy? On paper their relationship should not have worked. But in practice, it’s like their jagged pieces somehow fit. Nick finally caved after nine months and bought a second bed for Wayne to sleep on. He clearly lived here now and couldn’t spend forever on the couch. If Nick pushed his own bed over, the two fit comfortably in his compact room. They eventually pushed their beds together and have been keeping them like that for about a week now. Wayne suggested the change to Nick’s surprise. He was hesitant to agree to it at first.

“I don’t touch people,” his voice was hard.

Wayne lifted his eyebrows and stared at him. “Why?”

Nick’s left hand balled into a fist and he took in a sharp breath. “Because. In the camps they weren’t... kind. And I don’t know if I can- because-“ his pace got quicker as he tried stifling his growing anger. “-and I don’t want- I mean I don’t think I would, but I just- I- I don’t know how, okay.” His face was red. “I don’t know how and I don’t want to hurt you or anyone else so I just avoid touching all together.” His voice then got quiet as the redness faded. “All I’ve known is pain. I don’t think I could be any other way.”

Wayne was stunned. He never knew Nick had a touch aversion too. He started to fidget his hands and watched as Nick regained control of his breath. He waited until he saw his hands relax and said slowly, “well I can help with that. You don’t like to touch and I don’t like to _be_ touched. What could go wrong?” and with that gave him a small smile.

~~~

It took a couple of weeks. Wayne would demonstrate on Nick and Nick would do it back; rubbing arms, tracing muscles. Nick always thought he was doing it wrong and constantly asked,

“Is this okay? I can stop if you want.”

“No, no it’s fine.” It was always more than fine.

Because Nick was so afraid to hurt Wayne his touch was incredibly gentle. He learned very quickly what was off limits: shoulders, face, above the knee, and he would only touch his hands if Wayne gave them to him. He always asked for consent before starting and Wayne was great about communicating. One day Nick was walking into the bedroom when he saw Wayne fresh out of the shower wrapped in a towel with his back to the door.

Nick stopped dead in his tracks and just stared at him, mouth hanging slightly open. He’d never seen him with his shirt off before. There were more scars than he’d expected. They were mainly on his upper and mid back which made him guess they were shrapnel wounds. He also noticed the bullet wounds on his right shoulder and above his right hip. Wayne had never mentioned being shot before, but that made sense. Nick never talked about it either. He was much more fit than Nick had originally thought too. He just stared and stared watching water dripped down his spine. Eventually he snapped himself out of the trance and left before Wayne could turn around.

Later that night Nick rolled over and whispered, “Wayne?”

“Hmm?” he responded sleepily.

“Can I touch you?”

Wayne smiled faintly in the dark. “Sure,” he said calmly, and rolled over facing away from Nick expecting him to reach over and rub his chest. Instead Nick lifted his hand and began tracing the scars on his back. Wayne took in a sharp breath and his body went stiff. His eyes snapped open. Had Nick seen them? He’d been so careful to keep them hidden.

Nick felt Wayne tense and said soothingly, “I’m making them better.” Wayne’s breath came back to him. “I can stop if you want me to.” His fingers gently circled his back.

“Ah, no... no it’s okay. I just didn’t know you knew they were there.”

“I saw them this morning. I didn’t mean to but I didn’t know you were in the room.” They laid in silence for another minute or two while he kept tracing. Nick’s voice crept back in softly. “I’m sorry they hurt you.” Wayne’s eye filled with tears until several more minutes passed. “They don’t bother me by the way. I’ve got plenty of my own.”

Did he? Wayne couldn’t remember ever seeing Nick with his shirt off either... but he didn’t care. He was too moved by how loving Nick was being at the moment; something Nick swore he’d never be able to do. In one subtle motion Wayne sat up, turned around, and leaned in slowly to softly kiss him on the lips. He took off his shirt revealing abs Nick never knew he had, and laid back down on his stomach. The moonlight through the blinds reflected off his back revealing a dozen and a half crooked scars. Their noses we inches apart. Wayne’s voice came muffled through the pillow. “Just... not the bullet wounds- not yet. I’m not ready.”

“Okay,” Nick whispered. His fingers began tracing again and Wayne took in a slow breath. After what felt like hours Wayne rolled to his side, kissed Nick again and pulled him in to be the little spoon while lacing their legs together.

“You’re a good kisser,” Nick sleepily sighed.

“I know,” he responded, kissing the top of his shoulder. They woke up six hours later in the exact same position.

**Author's Note:**

> I love a good soft fic. Nick needs more love and this little thing is my attempt to give him some.


End file.
